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COSCO Group and China Merchants Group have completed their joint acquisition of Turkey's third largest container terminal, a key step in realising Beijing's Maritime Silk Road initiative.

The project delivery agreement was signed in Antalya, Turkey by Cosco chairman Ma Zehua, China Merchants Group head Li Jianhong, CIC deputy general manager Zhang Qing and Turkish conglomerate FIBA Group chairman Husnu Ozyegin, with Chinese and Turkish presidents Xi Jinping and Recep Tayyip Erdogan witnessing the ceremony.

The agreement reflected the Cosco Group and other Chinese companies' resolve to advance the country's One Belt, One Road project outlined by Mr Xi, Cosco Group said in a statement.

Lloyd's List reported in September that port operators from Cosco Pacific and China Merchants Holdings (International) will each hold a 26% stake, while CIC Capital, a unit of Beijing's sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp will have a 13% shareholding in the container terminal.

The remaining shares are owned by the State General Reserve Fund in Oman.

The share purchase price was not disclosed.

Kumport is strategically located on the northwest coast of the Sea of Marmara, close to the European side of Istanbul.

The terminal's shoreline stretches 2,180 m with maximum water depth of 16.5 m, and has six berths to move cargo on modern mega containerships. Its current container-handling capacity at 184m teu can be upgraded to 350m teu.   

The acquisition is part of CMG's strategy to improve its global port network. It comes on the heels of the group's $500m investment to build Sri Lanka's first deepwater port at Colombo, an industrial park project in Belarus and its Newcastle Port project in Australia, the group said in a statement.

Cosco Pacific itself was among the port operators bidding for a 51% stake Greece's Piraeus port operator OLP.

Both Cosco Group and China Merchants Group were also separately working on plans to merge with other state-owned entities.

Article from Lloyd's List

Published: Wednesday 18 November 2015